![Former CBI scientist accused of mishandling DNA told investigators she '[didn't] have a reason': Affidavit](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0121afa/2147483647/strip/false/crop/1280x714+0+3/resize/95x53!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcf.cdn.uplynk.com%2Fausw2%2Fslices%2Fead%2F0e3a3b3bc3ae4d6eac785fb8a26bdb6b%2Feada946036c94dc49bfd619581a9c0aa%2Fposter_281c722ae00c43ac84cf14653edf2e49.jpg)
A Colorado law firm has filed a notice that it intends to file a lawsuit against the Colorado Bureau of Investigation regarding the actions of forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods — who is already facing more than 100 criminal charges related to mishandling DNA evidence — in connection with a double homicide in 1982.
The Mehr Jolly firm provided notice to CBI on Wednesday of its intent to sue. Attorney Kevin Mehr told Denver7 Investigates he believes it’s the first such civil action regarding Woods’ actions.
“I have not heard of another civil lawsuit being announced regarding this situation,” Mehr said. “So, we hope that more people come forward.”
Mehr filed the notice on behalf of the daughter of Alan Phillips, who was convicted in 2022 of a cold case double murder and sentenced to life in prison. Phillips' daughter, Andrea Shelton, believes he was wrongfully convicted. He died by suicide in prison in 2023.
Mehr did not disclose a dollar amount they would be seeking in this suit, but noted both CBI and Woods would be listed as defendants.
“A lawsuit can't bring our client back,” he said. "But his family members, who are our clients at this point, they want accountability.”
The case centers around the deaths of Annette Schnee, 21, and Bobbi Jo Oberholtzer, 29, who were both found dead in Park County on a night in January 1982. Oberholtzer was found shot twice in the chest with zip ties on one wrist the following day. Schnee's body was not discovered until that summer, when a young boy and his father found her near Hoosier Pass. She had been shot once in the back. In the summer of 2020, Denver7 profiled the case and the longtime efforts of a private investigator to solve the murders.
Phillips was formally charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree kidnapping in March 2021. The victims' families talked with Denver7 following the charges about the "39 years of hell" they had endured.
Mehr said that Woods’ testimony and DNA evidence played a significant role in Phillips’ conviction, but believes that the evidence is now tainted after it came in at the trial in what he called the “11th hour.”
“We have to have trust in our system and this has destroyed it,” Mehr said. “The situation has absolutely destroyed trust in the criminal justice system.”
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation declined to comment on Wednesday, citing potential pending litigation in addition to the criminal charges Woods is facing. Denver7 Investigates reached out to Woods’ attorneys, but has not gotten a response.
Background of Missy Woods case
Yvonne "Missy" Woods is facing more than 100 felony charges related to mishandling DNA evidence that has impacted thousands of cases of the course of several years.
The incident involving mishandled DNA first became public knowledge in November 2023, when CBI issued a press release to announce that Woods was facing a criminal investigation after authorities discovered anomalies in her work as part of DNA testing in the lab. At the time, Woods had worked at CBI for 29 years.
According to her arrest affidavit, a CBI intern had been assigned to a project and noted "specific data was missing" and brought their concern to management. An internal investigation then launched, and CBI began reviewing Woods' work.
Lisa Yoshida, CBI laboratory director for the Arvada CBI Laboratory, noted more instances of deleted and altered data in Woods' workbooks, and noted the majority of the data was in "low-level DNA samples," Woods' arrest affidavit reads.
The discrepancies found in Woods' work, as outlined in the affidavit, included:
- Some of Woods' cases were listed as having a certain value for part of the DNA extraction process, but the actual number was missing. Once that DNA is extracted, it is assigned a "quantification value" automatically. A scientist would need to manually delete it.
- Several instances where Woods manipulated data "by lowering the quantification value to make it appear that either no DNA was present, or the amount of DNA located was too minimal to be amplified."
- Woods appeared to have re-ran entire batches of DNA through equipment, but did not provide documentation about doing this process. The tests had values on the first round, but were manipulated when it was processed a second time.
- Woods deleted specific values on sexual assault DNA samples, indicating no male DNA was found on the sample, when it was there.
Once a scientist finishes analyzing a DNA batch, their workbook is submitted for a "technical review," the affidavit reads, and officials at CBI said had it not been for that review, most of the discrepancies in Woods' work would not have been found.
A forensic scientist who worked with Woods found that Woods purposefully deleted specific values in the DNA testing "'in order to skip the 'amping' of that particular sample," the affidavit reads. When that forensic scientist told Woods that she would not sign off on the review and explained what she had found, "Analyst Woods didn't say anything and had a 'befuddled' look on her face," the document reads. Another forensic scientist reported that she had noticed inconsistencies with Woods' work back in March 2014. That person's manager instructed Woods to correct the errors, and she "did not ask any questions or provide any explanation as to why the data was missing when confronted," the affidavit reads.
Woods left the agency earlier in November 2023, just before CBI's announcement about the anomalies.
CBI announced that day in 2023 that they had started an internal affairs investigation in September 2023.
The results from that were completed and publicly shared in March 2024. The report reads that Woods altered, manipulated or deleted data in DNA testing in hundreds of cases. She omitted material facts in official criminal justice records, tampered with DNA testing results by omitting some results, and violated CBI’s Code of Conduct and CBI laboratory policies, CBI reported, adding that the manipulations appear to have been intentional, but no motive was named.
In April 2024, Woods interviewed with investigators with her attorney. She said she was placed on administrative leave in 2018 for "manipulation or alteration of quantitation data," and she reviewed her own work, was unable to explain why the error happened, and agreed with her manager's findings, the affidavit reads. "It was a rush batch and I was trying to get data out, and that's how it happened," she said. When investigators noted that deletions in the data "were more than likely not accidental," Woods agreed, the affidavit continues.
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When asked why she deleted those values, she replied, "I don't have a reason, and I especially don't have a good reason," the document reads. She confirmed the data from 2018 was manipulated or deleted, adding "I would imagine they did indicate that it was purposely" but said she does not know if all the errors "were intentional."
Woods recalled this happening again in 2023 and stated to investigators, "That's kind of where it started and it was like, oh, OK, and so I just started trying to think of what I've been doing and why I was doing it." She also stated, "It started happening again and I don't know when exactly it started happening again or why again. I got right back into my routine... I really don't know why I was doing it."
"She was asked again if she deleted the data from the spreadsheet to simply move specific cases forward quickly, to avoid having to do additional work and she agreed," the affidavit reads. "... Agents asked again if her reasoning for deleting the value would have been to simply move the case forward and she replied, 'Likely.'"
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When presented with multiple other examples, she did not appear shocked. When asked if her testimony in a courtroom would be inaccurate if she used her laboratory reports, she replied yes.
"She was asked why she chose to manipulate the data within the workbook, specifically within the results tab, and not earlier in the analysis process," the affidavit reads. "She again said she did not have a good answer, but stated, 'Like the analogy you used. I got to put out seven cases that day instead of five. I don't know.'"
As first reported by Denver7 in December 2024, CBI finished its review of all cases Woods was involved in at the end of 2024. It found 1,003 impacted cases.
During a presentation to the Colorado Joint Budget Committee on Dec. 13, CBI Director Chris Schaefer acknowledged the agency is dealing with a severe backlog, Denver7 Investigates reported earlier this month. Both DNA evidence cases and sexual assault tests are experiencing delays.
Woods was charged with 102 felonies in January 2025. That included 48 counts of attempting to influence a public servant, 52 counts of forgery of a government-issued document, one count of perjury and one count of cybercrime with damage of more than $1 million. As of that time, the state had allocated $7.4 million to address the fallout. Woods turned herself in the following day.
An affidavit for an arrest warrant outlined those 58 criminal cases, which included homicides, sexual assaults (including two a child), arson, child trafficking, robberies, burglaries, missing persons and more in Denver, Wheat Ridge, Englewood, Lakewood, Jefferson County, Black Hawk, Boulder, Boulder County, Loveland, Lafayette, Arapahoe County, Adams County, Broomfield, Arvada, Aurora, Longmont, Fraser/Winter Park, Westminster, Thornton, Larimer County, Greeley, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Fremont County and El Paso County.
In February, Denver7 looked into the Forensic Science Integrity Act (House Bill 25-1275), which was introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers who hoped to strengthen the rules for reporting and investigating misconduct in CBI's crime laboratory. Gov. Jared Polis signed it into law on June 2.
In March, CBI said in its review of Woods' work that she did not find that she falsified any DNA matches or fabricated DNA profiles, but instead "deviated from standard testing protocols and cut corners, calling into question the reliability of the testing she conducted." In the same statement, CBI said she should have done more testing to make sure her results were reliable.
The following month, a Colorado man, Michael Clark, was released from prison when his conviction was vacated after the Boulder County District Attorney's Office reviewed "new evidence" conducted by an independent lab that produced different DNA results than what was introduced during Clark's trial from Woods. He had spent more than a decade behind bars. This marked the first Colorado conviction to be vacated following an investigation into Woods. She testified in Clark's trial, and her testimony helped prosecutors place Clark at the scene of the crime.
